Oh, Teenage Hopes
by Kuruk
Summary: So you're in love with your best friend... who has no idea you love him? Oh, and it seems that other fiery-tempered friend of yours likes you. Not to mention that guy who practices witchcraft that likes you too. You know what? Teenage hopes suck.
1. Prologue

_Hello, it's Kuruk with a new long-fic._

_I know, I know. I have too much out. Well, I really like this one. It's a first, so bear with me._

_Let me give you a warning. This story does contain yaoi... as in M/M slash. For now it'll be a T rating but in later chapters, mostly when the characters become teenagers, due to the language teens use and of course, maybe a few sexual scenes... So just a warning. If you don't like it then don't read it. Really, no flames please._

_This is actually a first for me. As in my first yaoi fic on FanFiction. But this idea grasped me and wouldn't let go so I just **had** to write it. _

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon, unfortunately...

_Hope you enjoy. :D_

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_**Oh, Teenage Hopes**_

Prologue

This story starts and ends, with a boy.

It's a story of disaster, isolation, love; both unrequited and otherwise, rejection, acceptance, and, above all, friendship and just how far such a thing can go, even when love I brought into the equation.

My hopes, no matter how dumb or stupid they were, have always; and will always, revolve around that boy… the same one that begins and ends this story…

And so my story begins…

This story began on the day that I met him, the boy…

I was five at the time, so young yet so sharp, as my mom used to say. Her piercing, deep blue eyes would bore into mine; mirror images of hers, her fiery red hair cropped short, almost boyishly, was the same shade of crimson mine was.

We looked so much alike that I would later wonder if my father really was my father. He; a tall, brown-haired and eyed man, strong and proud; yet so kind at the same time, claimed to be my father. I; an average-sized, weak and timid, cool and distant boy that looked like my mother, saw that there were almost no similarities between my father and I. He was… the very thing that I ached so much to be but could never in my wildest dreams even try to compare to.

Even so, even though I knew that my father never understood me, he always tried to. He would smile at me when I explained the techniques I would use; cross-hatching and sfumatto, to finish my paintings of the mountains or the sea at sunset. He would watch with an encouraging smile as I read my books and gave each of my toys roles; invented entire scenarios with them that were never the same twice.

I could see that he was disappointed in me even though he never expressed it. In those, big, sad chocolate-colored eyes of his I saw the disappointment and the lost hopes; the hope that his son would grow up big and strong and active and would ask him to teach him how to do… well, manly things…

He loved me; a lot. He tried showing it as much as he could, and his love, untainted by the disappointed that lingered on those eyes of his, would spur me on through my life, providing me with the reassurance that he would always love me no matter what.

My mom… she was different.

She never was disappointed with anything I did. Whenever I would show her one of my drawings she would compliment on it, when I explained to her how I used shading to provide the illusion of 3-D form she would actually listen and understand what I was saying, not feign interest like my dad did.

My mom was the closest thing to me; we were so alike in so many ways and in the areas of the mind we seemed to have the same workings. It was because of that that she was so patient and understanding with me; never not supporting anything that I did.

But, both my parents had always been concerned with the way that I would lock myself in my room and wouldn't leave the house, let alone the farm. So, one day, when I was five, my mom told my dad to introduce me to the other kids in town.

He'd gladly complied, putting off hours of farm work that would surely come back and bite him in the behind later just to take my out to meet a few of the neighborhood kids. I guess he thought that maybe playing with others my age would encourage the behavior that he had tried to foster in me, and failed.

Maybe, just maybe, by introducing me to them, he would finally make me 'normal'.

I held his hand as he led me through the village, a proud smile on his face as we walked past the villagers. They would wave and smile at me; tell me how cute and smart I was; and that made my dad proud. Even though he'd always wanted for the villagers to tell me how big, strong and brave I was, he settled for the compliments they gave me, well, because, he had never gotten those compliments himself.

While I paled in one aspect, I was superior to most in another. And that; me being good at something, I mean, made my dad proud. And by making him proud, I made myself happy; happy that my dad was finally proud of something that I did.

Then I remember arriving at the Goddess Spring and seeing those two for the first time in my life; the two people that would become so integral in my life that I wouldn't be able to think of a day without them; without loving and hating them…

But at that moment I was so terrified that I remember hiding behind my dad's thigh, poking my head out just a little so I could see the kids I was about to be introduced to.

My dad waved at them and they ran over excitedly. "Jack! Jack!" the boy called, looking a bit flustered and out of breath, his wispy blonde hair bouncing on his head in a cowlick style.

The girl got to us first. She was… probably the first girl I'd seen that was my age. She looked… I don't know, at that age… disgusting yet intriguing at the same time? Her dark brown hair was fixed into braided ponytails and the strangest reddish eyes I'd ever seen.

"Who's that, Jack?" she asked my dad, pointing at me in a surly manner that made me want to run for cover.

My dad chuckled heartily and crouched down to their level, pushing me into their line of sight where I immediately looked down at my shoes as if they were the most interesting things in the entire world at the moment.

"This is my son," the kids gasped as if it were unthinkable that my dad had a son, "His name is Isaac… he's five; like you Hugh!"

The boy smiled at me as if we were friends already, but I looked away timidly, avoiding eye contact like the plague. I squeezed my father's hand for any type of familiar reassurance I could get from him, trying to make him tell me that everything was okay; that these kids weren't as scary and foreign as they seemed to me…

"Well…" my father said, "Isaac wants to play with you guys too, is it okay if he does?"

The boy, Hugh, nodded immediately, an eager look on his face. The girl, Kate, seemed to consider this for a few minutes; the scariest minutes of my short life, and then nodded reluctantly. "Fine," Kate said, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "But only if… you're _it!_" she shoved me hard, pushing me down to the ground. Tears welled in my eyes, clouding my vision by making it all blurry.

I reached out for my father, seeking the familiar, calloused hand for comfort… but my small hands didn't find him. I remember what dread I'd felt then; having been abandoned by my father in front of these two strangers… my lip started to quiver, I started to make small sobbing sounds…

"What a crybaby!" Kate yelled, her hands forming little fists as she leaned closer to me, "Looks like the perfect friend for you, Hugh."

"Shut up, Kate," Hugh said, looking flustered. He bent down and extended his hand to me. He had a bandage on his pale skin; that's what I remember thinking when I saw him like that. That he had a freaking bandage on his skin. "It's okay. Kate does that to me all the time," he whispered while Kate occupied herself be kicking at a few rocks, "She's mean… and a _girl_."

Ah. She was a _girl_. As if that would explain everything.

But at that age, it did… at least for Hugh. He made a disgusted face and mouthed the word 'eew' and helped me up, easily. He was strong, even at that age. I was scrawny and small for my age, even at that age.

"B-but…" I sniffled, wiping my runny nose on my sleeve, "I… like girls…"

Hugh instantly fell silent, his mouth frozen in a small 'o'. Kate too, had fallen deathly silent, as if I had just grown fangs and wings and had attempted to suck their blood out. "You… like… girls…!?" Hugh exclaimed, chubby little face almost bursting with shock. I nodded in bewilderment, and Kate made coughing sounds, covering the little blush that was spreading on her cheeks with her hand.

"B-but…" Hugh muttered, still shocked out of his little brain, "Girls have _cooties_-,"

"Like boys don't!?" interrupted Kate, stomping over and leaning forward towards Hugh as if to intimidate him. Hugh did jump back. Whether it was the cooties of the threat of getting attacked by the scary Kate wasn't clear.

I could just watch as Kate and Hugh had an argument... well, basically it consisted of Kate arguing _at_ Hugh while he would lamely reply with some little insult that would make her even angrier.

And despite myself... I smiled.

Maybe I could play with them after all... if I wasn't beat up by Kate first!

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_A/N: That's the prologue. Things start off slow, but soon, after a few chapters, things will get complicated. Love squares, anyone? Of course Isaac and Hugh will be in it, but then a very confused Kate gets mixed into the situation, not to mention a mischiveous character with magical powers. XD You'll see soon enough._

_Like? Please show me what you think!_


	2. The Others

_Kuruk here with an update!_

_GASP! Kuruk UPDATING something! Too unreal! I know, I know... but this story has enraptured me with its writing snare and I couldn't procrastinate like I usually do with all my other updates..._

_Well, hope you enjoy this update! Disclaimers unfortunately still apply._

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**Chapter One: The Others**

And just like that, the three of us were inseparable.

Or maybe a better definition of what our relationship consisted of would be that I clung to them. Well, not them, but Hugh.

Hugh was... well, everything that I was expected to me. For that, I both admired and envied him. My father expected me to be just like Hugh; strong, athletic, proud, confident and obedient. I found myself wishing that I could be Hugh and he me so that then I could please my father...

But despite all the emotions I felt towards Hugh, I found myself enjoying him. Soon Hugh became my planet, I just the moon that revolved around him. At the dinner table I'd talk about Hugh nonstop, when I wasn't with him I longed to be...

Hugh, in such a short time, had already become my best friend.

And Kate? Well, Kate was more complicated...

Kate, even at that young age, was prone to mood swings. She would often storm off, leaving Hugh and I bewildered and sometimes hurt. Our boyish perceptions of the world supplied us with the assurance that Kate was a girl, and therefore strange and bad. Or at least Hugh thought that.

I thought that Kate was... just... normal. I think that provoked Hugh's surprise more than anything else. I was already a mystery to him, not like him and yet not completely like a girl either. It was during the Winter that he came to his conclusion about me.

"I think you're a girl," Hugh blurted. We were alone; Kate had been in trouble earlier that day and confined to her room by her mother. Hugh and I were lying in the grass, flat on our backs, watching the clouds go by.

My face heated. "Am not," I retorted.

Hugh flipped over until he was right next to me and on his side so that he looked down at me. I blushed harder then, looking at his deep blue eyes and his golden hair that captivated me. "But you don't like getting dirty... or running, or-," he was out of breath already, his little cheeks puffing out.

"I'm not a girl!" I insisted, my voice rising, tears coming to my eyes.

"Don't cry," he said, his index finger brushing away the tears that were falling down my already puffy cheeks, "I mean... being a girl isn't... bad..."

I hiccuped pathetically, not even realizing that I missed the feel of his finger on my skin. "R-really...?"

He nodded. "Yeah... th-that means... we can," he averted his eyes from mine, blushing a scarlet so deep that it looked my hair, "hold hands..."

My eyes widened, and he looked back at me, young eyes a mix of excitement and fear. "Y-yeah... like my mom and dad... you know... they hold hands..."

Thoughts of 'moms and dads' brought other activities to mind, and I squirmed a bit, thinking how disgusting it would be if I had to put my lips on...

"So...?" Hugh drawled.

"Huh?" I replied, drawing out that one word as much as humanly possible.

"W-wanna do it?" he stuttered, the scarlet deepening.

I considered, my seven-year old mind struggling with the implications of what would happen if I held hands with Hugh. I couldn't get cooties and he wouldn't either 'cause, well, I _was_ a boy, no matter what he said. That was the only bad thing that could come of it, I supposed, so I nodded hesitantly.

His eyes widened and he nodded back at me. He hesitated, and when I met his eyes in confusion he seemed to panic a bit, and his hand crept over to where mine was. Quicker than I thought possible, Hugh's hand grabbed mine tight, and I think I gasped at the feel of it.

It was rough; not as rough as my father's, but _rough_. I mean, it was still soft, like a child's was, but it felt so _rough_ to me... rougher than mom's and Kate's and definitely much rougher than mine. It was alien, and foreign... but it felt _good_.

"You're soft," Hugh whispered, loosening his grip on my own and tentatively running his thumb across the back of my hand.

I was blushing. "You're... rough..."

He almost broke the contact. If I hadn't tightened my own grip to prevent that he would've gotten away. "I-is... that bad?" he asked, voice desperate and nervous.

"No!" I yelled, tightening my grip on his hand to emphasize my words, "I-I... like it..."

He blushed, and I did too. We were two seven year olds experiencing something they have not the knowledge to understand, but too wonderful and at the prelude to something even more so.

"Well look-e here!" came a shrill, horrible voice, "Two _girls_ holding _hands_!"

Hugh wrenched his hand out of my grasp, making me gasp at the loss. Standing before us, arms crossed over their chests, were Lucy, Stella and Stephen.

Even though it may seem so, Hugh, Kate and I were not the only children in the Valley. Not only did my mom and my father get married, but the other people their age got married. Yeah... my aunt Muffy married her boss, Griffin around a season after my parents did. They had one kid... my cousin Lucy.

Lucy looks every bit like my aunt, but she's nothing like her at the same time. My Aunt Muffy is kind and good and really smart, maybe even as smart as my mom. But Lucy... she's mean and two-faced and she's smart too, but in a bad way... like she uses her smarts to do bad things like pranks and get other people in trouble. It never ceased to amaze me how unlike her parents Lucy was... and it always made me sad that Aunt Muffy and Uncle Griffin had to live with that.

Well... Marlin and Celia, both farmers at my father's rival farm, got married a few weeks before my parents did. No sooner than a year into their marriage Celia got pregnant with twins, no less. Stephen and Stella, complete with matching names, are only a year older than me and the others but they love to flout that... or at least Stella does.

Celia, who is so kind and generous, and Marlin, who is sometimes grouchy and antisocial. Again, genetics surprised everyone. Stella, who looks a lot more like Celia than her dad, the only differences being jet black hair and a more angular face, has the grouchy part of her dad's character with a more Lucy-like twist. She's cruel and mean, but unlike Lucy she makes no move to hide it. At least with Stella you know what to expect.

Stephen, on the other hand, reminds me more of, well, me... He looks like Marlin, except that he doesn't have an Elvis-style do, his face is more round like his mother's and his hair is a light shade of brown. Yeah... Stephen does remind me of me. He's quiet and very shy, never talking to anyone. He only tags along with Lucy and Stella because the latter is his twin and no one else is his friend... so... in that, he seems to be a lot like me...

The three of them are the closest things that you get to bullies here in the Valley. Of course, they always seemed to have been more cautious when Kate was around. Namely because Kate was a girl and could beat up the three of them without getting into _too_ much trouble...

But Kate wasn't here today... so...

"Shut up, Lucy..." Hugh muttered, sitting up, the blush already fading from his cheeks.

Lucy giggled cruelly and Stella joined in moments later. Stephen just stood where he was, rocking back and forth on his heels, looking down at the grass. "You know, Izzie," Lucy said, turning her attention to me and using the nickname I hated so much, "If I told Uncle Jack about this, I wonder what he'd think..."

Stella nodded, a wicked smile on her face. "He'd think that Isaac was a girl, just like you and me," she supplied, twirling her hair with one finger.

I blanched. If dad found out what I just did...

"He'd think you were a liar, liar pants on fire!" Hugh cut in, sticking up for me like he always did, "I mean, if you wanna lie to Jack about something that never happened then I'll go ahead and tell your mom that you're the stealer that stole Landon's magnifying glass, not Kate!"

It was Lucy's turn to blanch. Her already pale skin looked lifeless as her green eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in angry surrender. "My mommy will never believe you," she spat, hoping that he'd back down.

Hugh stood up and like usual, I cowered behind him as he stood up to my cousin. "Oh yeah?" Hugh asked, arms crossed, "You wanna bet? How 'bout when I tell your mom that I know where you hid it?"

Lucy looked livid-- her skin turned even whiter with fury, her emerald eyes flashed in her anger. "Y-you..."

Hugh stood his ground until Lucy's temper shrunk. Her skin regained the little color it had, her eyes reverted to the innocent-looking childish mask she always used. "Whatever," Lucy said, shrugging as if it didn't matter to her, "Little nerdy Landon doesn't need to know about it and neither does my mommy," she shot a venomous glance at me. I glared back, feigning courage, "And I guess Uncle Jack and Aunt Nami don't need to know about this either..."

I sighed in relief and Hugh relaxed a little at her words. Lucy and Stella glared at us one last time then left, Stephen tailing behind them, looking back at us once or twice with an emotion I couldn't place. Beside me, Hugh stuck his tongue out at him.

When they were out of sight, Hugh let out a sigh and looked at me with a smile. "See?" he said, proud, "We don't need Kate here to kick their butts out of here."

I giggled despite myself and nodded.

Later that night, as I lay in bed, I stared at my hand, imagining that Hugh's rough one was wrapped around it... reassuring me that everything was okay.

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_A/N: Pardon if everything looks a bit retarded. I'm not using AOL anymore since whenever I got an IM through AIM, AOL would crash. I'm using Firefox now, and everything looks a bit different than it does when I use AOL... I hope it doesn't throw anyone off or make it harder to read..._

_Well. There was a teeny bit of Isaac/Hugh. But meh, they're kids. Nothing big's gonna happen until they're teenagers, and when the teenage stuff comes along things get angsty, dramatic, a bit more humorous with the whole love-square thing, and stuff. Next chapter will still be fluffy. The others... not so much.  
_

_How'd you guys like Lucy? XD I hate her myself. I just need an antagonist. And the whole cousin thing is the following-- they aren't actually related, Muffy and Griffin are just really good friends with Jack and Nami, so the whole aunt-uncle-cousin thing is adopted._

_Next chapter you meet the other kids and another rather fluffy chapter... with a tinge of tragedy. Just a tinge. No deaths, just injuries, non-life threatening. Well, hope you enjoyed it. Please review!_

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